Illusionary
by Yumesuta
Summary: [Yuffentine][oneshot] After her final battle, Yuffie has one last favor she wants Vincent to do. He accepts. [Warning: character death]


Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII, or any of its characters, including Vincent and Yuffie.

Warnings: Yuffentine, character death, oneshot

* * *

Neither of the pair knew why they were being attacked all of the sudden by these monsters—why here, why _now_ of all times? A storm was brewing up; rain had already started to fall. The small size of the raindrops should have made the slow downpour gentle, but rather they were like tiny knife blades, constantly hitting their faces.

The group, as a whole, had reached a point where they had to split up. Once the groups were made, the two ungrouped "leftover" people were Yuffie and Vincent, so they'd paired up. Travelling by themselves hadn't seemed like a very intelligent thing to do.

The other groups had three members—so, the pair was only one person short. Apparently, the phrase "safety in numbers" appeared to apply here, as they weren't safe, and two is not a large number…

Now, back to back, they each faced two snarling beasts.

Yuffie gulped slightly, glancing over her shoulder at Vincent. "…Um, what should we do…?" she asked.

"You fight the two in front of you, and I'll fight the ones in front of me," he replied calmly. After all, how could this be such a big deal? It appeared just like the other battles they'd been in during their journey.

Yuffie nodded and cast Bolt3 on the enemies in front of her; Vincent cast Fire3 on his. The battle was soon over…as far as they knew.

"See, Yuffie? You should stop panicking before every battle. They are easy," Vincent said in an almost mocking tone of voice, continuing on.

Yuffie glared at him. "I-I was NOT panicking! I was just making sure you were paying attention! Yeah! That's all!" she shrieked after him, running slightly to catch up.

"Of course you were," Vincent said over his shoulder, not stopping, when a growl came out of nowhere. The scarlet-eyed man seemed not to notice—if he did, he didn't care, and kept walking.

"Um…Vinnie?" Yuffie called out, glancing over her shoulder nervously. One of the monsters they'd just been defeated wasn't really defeated, as it was standing up, snarling at them, it's attention mostly on Vincent. The creature tensed slightly before howling and lunging at its prey.

"HEYLOOKOUT!" the young ninja screamed, running in front of the monster to try and protect Vincent—but she was a little too slow. If she'd went in front of it a second earlier, she'd have had a chance to defend herself…

Her shuriken was knocked out of her reach, and she was forced down onto her back as the monster mercilessly slashed at her.

This had all happened before Vincent had a chance to react. Panicking slightly, he yanked his gun out of its holster and shot the thing—once was enough to kill it. When he was completely sure it was dead, he slid the gun back in its holster and cautiously walked up to Yuffie and knelt beside her after pulling the monster's corpse off of her. The ninja was tore up pretty bad. Her limps were still connected to her body, but large, deep gashes covered her being.

"I'm dying, Vincent," she whined in a weak, pained voice.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Don't be ridiculous," he muttered. Neither of them had brought Restore Materia, so he reached into his pocket to look for a Potion or Hi-Potion, or even an Elixir, to help stop the bleeding so that Yuffie would live.

…Then, he realized they didn't have any with them, and Yuffie really _was_ dying.

"Vinnie…I'm really gonna die, aren't I?" Yuffie asked quietly, examining how severe her wounds were.

Vincent didn't know how to answer that question—how could he tell her yes? After thinking for a moment…he simply nodded…

Yuffie sobbed slightly. "Vinnie, I don't _wanna_ die! I never even had a chance to live!" she said. With a weak laugh, she continued, "No one's even ever told me they loved me…n-not even my parents. D-didja know that?" she managed to say. It was hard to talk through the pain.

"Yuffie…"

"O-oh well…at least I could die prot-tecting someone I care about."

Vincent listened silently to her. He'd taken off his cape, and was now ripping it into strips to use as bandages, trying in vain to keep her alive.

"…C-could ya do me one last f-favor?" the young ninja asked quietly.

"It will not be the last…" he murmured, sighing. "…But, alright."

"You see, I've never been…kissed…before…"

Yuffie didn't have to say anything further. Vincent knew what she wanted as the last favor. _I might as well make her last moments happy, _he thought, and leaned over, kissing her gently on the lips before tenderly scooping his arms under her body to hold her.

Yuffie closed her eyes. She felt as though she were floating…and for a moment, just a moment, the pain was gone…When Vincent pulled away, she kept her eyes closed, reaching out for his human hand. Once she found it, she held it gently.

"Thanks, Vinnie…now, I can die with the illusion that I was loved," Yuffie whispered, leaning her head against his shoulder with some difficulty before breathing her last breath and going limp.

Vincent stared at her in sorrow for a moment, though his facial expression didn't convey his feelings. Standing up with Yuffie still in his arms, he sighed and began walking again to a place where he could give her a proper burial.

Looking down at her lifeless face, he whispered, "It wasn't an illusion, Yuffie…"


End file.
